Above knee amputees require a correctly constructed effective artificial prosthetic limb to be able to effectively walk. If the socket of the prosthesis is not properly configured lack of patient stability, inability to effectively walk, impingement and/or dislocation can occur. Discussions of prosthetic systems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,938,762, 6,002,859, 6,709,617, 6,944,518, Publication Nos. 2002/0043738, 2005/0245934, and 2005/0245936.
Current systems for designing prosthesis are generally unsatisfactory. For example, they concentrate only on the amputated limb, and do not consider the overall effect of the anatomy of the entire pelvic region on the stability of the prosthesis. It is well-known that the pelvic regions of males and females differ significantly, and many systems do not accommodate these differences. Moreover, when fitting the prosthesis, tissue surrounding the bone, and particular muscular tissue, interferes with measuring and fitting the prosthesis.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system for accurately fitting a transfemoral amputee with a prosthesis that accommodates the variations that occur in the pelvic region of patients, and that allows a practitioner to appropriately accommodate for the surrounding tissue.